Circuit breaker apparatus



Ja n. 7, 1936. B. 1. HAYFORD- 2,027,228

CIRCUIT BREAKER APPARATUS Fil ed March 29, 1934 Z? HI I mf W? l lia 1]!47 it Lg. j.

Patented Jan. 7, 1936 UNITED? STATES PATENT OFFICE? 2,027,228 v orncnrrBREAKER AP PARATUS Benjamin matron, Wilkinsburg; Pa.,'assigno1 toWestiiighouse Electric & Manufacturing" company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Apiilica tidiiiiaiif ze; 19341 said No.717,975

8 Claims. (01. am -3) P r lat s. erally. toeirciiit b fiaker, apparatus,and, more partipu lgr ly to rap? vaitaitiifilfer cm c nne ion w th c tbreake.

eg 'gwmener enclosed within a cell structure andniaybe withdrawn fromthe ,c ell forthe pur-l ti when it is desired to; withdraw .a circuit.ker from the cellstructurefor the purpose.

zt brea o f jnspection and P repair. or for substitution of anothercircuit breaker unit,v

i n object of my invention,generally stated, is tn provide a transfertruck for circuit breaker 25" eshall vbe' simple and efficient in,.op.-

era on, andwhich may be readily and economically manufactured. e morespecific object of my invention is to de a transfer truck for circuitbreaker units a selfcontained means for raising the theswitchgearstation.

Other objects of my invention will be explained hereinaf ter' or will beapparent to those skilled in the art.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment o f rny invention, atransfer truck. is equipped withlifting armsdisposed to engage lugsproded on the sides of the circuit breaker unit. A

simple elevating mechanism is provided for moving the lifting arms'vertically a sufficient distance to raise the breaker unit from" thefloor, t thereby permitting the breaker to be moved where desiredwithoutjthe use of hoists or cranes.

r rja fuller understanding or the'naturewand i 1 in qn n em vb h d tllowillg detailedfde'scription, taken in c tion with the accompanyingdrawing, in

whlc

Fig i a p r; view of a transfer thickeni- 111% 1. nve o f i b howing acircuit breaker unit raised b ak riunit from the floor to permit, it tobe. mgyedinto grout oithe cell structure and about entertain sans-t;

from the floor by means of the elevating mechali'ig. 3is a view, in endelevation. of the transfertruck; and V r ,Fig. 4 is an enlarged view,partly in section and; 5

partly in elevation, of a portion of the elevating mechanism.

Referring to the drawing, the transfer truck comprises a base frame,comprising two spaced longitudinal members ll, joined at one end by o across member 12. A wheel or roller I3 ispro vided atth front end of eachof the longitudinal, members H and two swivel wheels [4 are pro-; videdat the rear end of the frame for supporting; the truck An upright memberI5 is provided. at each rear corner of the base frame and these. uprightmembers are joined at the top by a cross, memberlii, Likewise, anupright member I8 is,

provided at the front end of each of the base 7.;

members. ll. However, no cross members are provided at. the front end ofthe frame, in order that lit will straddle a circuit breaker housing. toperinit the breakerhousing to be lifted from the .floor in a mannerhereinafter described.

As shown, a diagonal brace I9 is provided at each side of the truckframe. The braces I9 ex-. tend from near the bottom of the frontuprights l8 to the top of the rearuprights I5 and may be.

secured thereto by Welding or other suitable. 7,

means. If desired, the ends of thebraces i930 maybe extended beyond ,theuprights l5 and joinedby a pipe or rod 2|, as shown, to constitutevahandle for moving the truck.

In'order that the transfer truck may beutili zed to lift a circuitbreaker unit 20 from the floorto transport; the breaker unit, the, truckis provided, with a pair of spaced, horizontal arms 22 which. arepivotally connected to the rear upright mom-a bers if; by meansof a rod23. The lifting arms,

22am joined att he rear bya channel memberyio 24, and braces 25 aresecured to the channelil andthe arms 22, as shown in Fig. 1, to preventlateral movementof the arms 22. In a similar manner,,braces 25 aresecured to the bottom lon-.

gitudinal members I] and the cross member II to .45 preyent lateralmovement of the front ends of the members ll.

As shown in Fig. 2, a toggle mechanism 3| is disposed to; raise one endof each of the arms 22, E, thereby raising the breaker unit 20 which ispro: 60 vided with lugs 32 which are engaged by the armstzi, One link ofeach toggle mechanismvis. connected to one of ,thearrns 22 and the otherlink is connected to one of the front upright rnem:

bers I8 by means of a bearing block 33 that may be welded onto theupright l8. The two links are joined by a pin 35 to which one end of arod 35 is connected for operating the toggle mechamsm.

5 It will thus be seen that the ends of the arms 22 can be raisedsimultaneously to lift the breaker unit 26 by pulling both rods 35toward the rear of the truck to actuate the toggle mechanism 3| to theposition shown in solid lines. A stop member 36 is provided on each ofthe uprights I8 to prevent the toggle mechanisms from being actuated to,or past, the dead center position. A guide member 3'! is also providedon the side of each of the lifting arms- 22 to prevent lateral and lon-15 gitudinal movement between the uprights I8 and the arms.

In order that the toggle mechanisms may be 7 moved simultaneously fromthe position shown in broken lines to the position shown in solid lines,20 thereby raising the breaker unit, by drawing the connecting rods 35toward the rear of the truck, each of the rods-is provided with athreaded connecting link or bolt having a bifurcated head connected tothe end of the rod 35, opposite the 5 toggle mechanism, by a pin 42. Thethreaded portion of each of the links 4| extends through a channelmember d3 which extends across the rear of the truck frame and issecured to the upright members l5. 7 0 As shown, particularly in Fig. 4,a threaded :Jsprocket wheel 66 is provided on the right hand one of thelinks 4!, a thrust bearing 45 being interposed between the sprocketwheel and the channel Q3. The thrust bearing 45 may be se- 35 cured inposition by screws 46. The sprocket M is provided with a collar 47 whichsurrounds the bolt 4| and has two projecting lugs 48 disposed to beengaged by a crank 49 having a slotted sleeve 5! for fitting over thecollar 41 to rotate 40 .the sprocket 44.

. a A sprocket 52, which is similar to the sprocket 44 except that thecollar 41 is omitted, is provided for the threaded link 4! on theconnecting rod 35 that operates the toggle mechanism on the left handside of the truck and the two sprockets are connected by a chain 53, asshown in Fig. 3, a thrust bearing similar to the bearing 45 is providedfor the sprocket 52. A cover plate 54, which may be secured to thechannel 43 by 5 screws 55 encloses and protects the two sprockets andthe chain.

-It will thus be seen that the two toggle mechanisms may be operatedsimultaneously either to raise or lower the arms 22 by turning the crank55 49 in the proper direction. When the crank is .turned in onedirection the threaded links 4| are drawn through the sprockets whichturn in the bearings 45, thereby. operating the toggle mechanisms toraise the arms 22, and as the crank is 60 turned in the oppositedirection the arms are permitted to drop, thereby raising or loweringthe circuit breaker unit.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I have provideda transfer truck which 5 is simple in construction and operation andwhich may be readily utilized to lift heavy circuit breakerunits fromthe floor and move them into or out of the cell structure, and abouttheswitchgear station without the aid of a crane or hoist. 70 I do notdesire to be restricted to the specific embodiment of my inventionherein shown and described, since it is evident that it may be changedand modified without departing from the spiritand scope of my inventionas defined in the 75 appended claims.

I claim as my invention: v

1. A transfer truck for a circuit breaker unit comprising a truck frame,wheels for supporting the truck frame, a pair of spaced arms pivotallyconnected to the truck frame and disposed to 5 straddle the circuitbreaker unit and engage the sides thereof, separate toggle mechanismsfor raising one end of each arm to lift the circuit breaker unit, andmeans for operating both toggle mechanisms simultaneously. 10

2. A transfer truck for a circuit breaker unit comprising a truck frame,wheels for supporting the truck frame, a pair of spaced arms pivotallyconnected to the truck frame and disposed to straddle the circuitbreaker unit and engage the sides thereof, separate toggle mechanismsfor raising one end of each arm to lift the circuit breaker unit, and acommon operating means for actuating both toggle mechanismssimultaneously to raise orlower the circuit breaker unit.

3. A transfer truck comprising a truck frame, wheels for supporting thetruck frame, a pair of spaced arms having one end pivotally connected tothe truck frame, individual toggle mechanisms disposed in substantiallyvertical alinement with the arms for raising the other end of said arms,means for actuating each of said toggle mechanisms, and common means foroperating said actuating means simultaneously.

4. A transfer truck comprising a truck frame, wheels for supporting theframe, a pair of spaced arms having one end pivotally connected totherear of the truck frame, individual toggle mechanisms disposed at thefront of the truck frame and in substantially vertical alinement withthe arms for raising the front end of said arms, an operating mechanismdisposed at the rear of the truck frame for actuating said togglemechanisms, and means for connecting the actuating mechanism to thetoggle mechanisms.

5. A transfer truck comprising a truck frame, wheels for supporting theframe, a pair of spaced arms having one end pivotally connected to therear of the truck frame, a toggle mechanism disposed at each side of thefront of the truck frame and in substantially vertical alinement withthe arms for raising the front end of said arms, an operating mechanismdisposed at the rear of the truck frame for actuating said toggle mecha-5o nisms, and a connecting rod disposed on each side of the truck framefor connecting each of the toggle mechanisms to the operating mechamsm.

6. A transfer truck comprising a truck frame,

for moving said connecting rods longitudinally to actuate the togglemechanisms.

'7. A transfer truck comprising a truck frame,

wheels for supporting the frame, a pair of spaced arms having one endpivotally connected to the rear of the truck frame, a toggle mechanismdisposed at each side of the front of the truck frame for raising thefront end of said arms, a connecting rod disposed on each side of thetruck frame, one end of each rod being connected to one of said togglemechanisms and the 75.

other end of each rod being provided with a threaded connection, andthreaded means disposed at the rear of the truck frame to cooperate withthe threaded connections on said rods to move the rods longitudinally toactuate the toggle mechanisms.

8. A transfer truck comprising a truck frame, wheels for supporting theframe, a pair of spaced arms having one end pivotally connected to therear of the truck frame, a toggle mechanism disposed at each side of thefront of the truck frame for raising the front end of said arms, a

connecting rod disposed on each side of the truck frame, one end of eachrod being connected to one of said toggle mechanisms and the other endof each rod being provided with a threaded connection, threaded sprocketwheels disposed at the rear of the truck frame'to cooperate with thethreaded connections on said rods to move the rods longitudinally toactuate the toggle mecha nisms, means for connecting the sprocketwheels, and means for rotating said sprocket wheels.

BENJAMIN I. HAYFORD.

